Paparazzo Claims He Never Touched Mike Tyson

​The photog who went a round with Mike Tyson at LAX on Wednesday says he never touched the former heavyweight champ.

Tony Echevarria claims he was merely asking Tyson questions, when Iron Mike snapped and started beating him, breaking his camera and ultimately sending him to the hospital.

In an interview with TMZ, Echevarria claims his encounter with Tyson was going fine until he asked "Kid Dynamite" about his female traveling companion.

"At one point, he's holding his lady's hand. She looked kinda young so I asked him, 'Is that your girlfriend?' He said, 'Don't say nothing to me anymore.' I said, 'No problem, no disrespect.' So then I didn't say anymore, I was just shooting the scene. They're walking, hugging...," Echevarria says.

The woman he was referring to was Mike's wife, and Echevarria claims that was enough to send the newfound family man into a fury.

Echevarria claims that unprovoked, Tyson gave him a few quick jabs, dropping the photog to the ground. He also says that after the brawl, Tyson and his bodyguard seemed intent on destroying Echevarria's camera to get rid of any evidence of the attack.

Tyson's version is a little different.

He claims Echevarria provoked the troubled tough guy by hitting Tyson and harassing his wife. Tyson has -- to put it politely -- a little bit of a temper problem. He bit a guys ear off and once threatened to eat Lennox Lewis' children.

Both Tyson and Echevarria were arrested following the incident, after both men filed citizen's arrest complaints against each other.

Tyson, who is still on probation here in Arizona, could face up to five years in an Arizona prison if court officials find that he violated terms of his probation.